OSF renovating retail space for bigger Belvidere clinic

BELVIDERE — OSF Medical Group is expanding its footprint in Belvidere with plans to transform empty retail space near a busy intersection into a new medical center.

OSF Center for Health — Belvidere is slated to open by late March at 1954 Gateway Center Drive, near the Genoa Road/U.S. 20 intersection.

Fifteen exam rooms at the new facility will eventually accommodate up to five providers.

“We look at the need to expand services to be convenient and meet the needs of the population we serve,” said Dr. Jeffry Tillery, vice president of OSF Medical Group Northern Region. “We’re fortunate that Belvidere sits nearby another one of our clinics in Marengo. We also have a significant amount of patients to the south and to the north.

The 12,000-square-foot clinic will have primary care and PromptCare services, outpatient testing, lab services and digital imaging such as mammography, MRI and ultrasound. Physical therapy will be offered in a building next to the main center.

The clinic space is in a retail center near Belvidere’s Walmart Supercenter. The clinic will fill about five empty storefronts that used to house businesses such as Quiznos, Thai Basil restaurant and a flooring store. Great Clips, Rosati’s and T6 Broadband are still in the same center.

OSF Medical Group’s existing clinic at 143 Kishwaukee St. will close once the new location opens. The providers and staff there also will move.

“We think this will allow patients to have much more convenient care with the high-end services that we provide in all of our clinics,” Tillery said.

OSF is in growth mode, having just opened a clinic in Byron this year, and another clinic in Rockton slated to open by year’s end. The medical group also has a clinic in Poplar Grove.

The same intersection in Belvidere also has a Rockford Health Physicians clinic and a Physicians Immediate Care location.